Common Garden Weeds and How to Manage Them by Hand

Every garden has weeds. Some are easy to pull. Others are stubborn, deep-rooted and come back again and again. At Raikana Primary School in Pretoria, we have learned to identify the weeds that cause the most problems, because knowing what you are dealing with is the first step to managing it.

We do not use herbicides in our garden. Every weed we remove is pulled by hand. It takes time, but it keeps the soil clean, protects the crops and forces us to learn the habits of each plant that tries to take over.

This article covers six of the weeds that give us the most trouble. For each one, I describe what it looks like, why it is difficult to manage and how we remove it by hand.

Written By

Kutlwano Mokoena

Published: 29 October 2026 

In This Article

• Why hand removal matters
• Purple nutsedge
• Goosegrass
• Horseweed
• Hairy beggarticks
• Mexican clover
• Red spiderling
• What I have learned from managing weeds by hand

Why Hand Removal Matters

There are faster ways to remove weeds. Herbicides kill weeds quickly and cover large areas without much effort. But they also damage the soil, kill beneficial organisms and leave behind chemical residues that stay in the ground for months or years.

We choose hand removal for three reasons. It protects the soil biology. It forces us to see what is growing in the garden. And it means we can remove the weed with its roots intact, which prevents it from growing back.

The beds we work with are fed with slow-release chicken feather fertilizer and covered with grass mulch. That mulch layer is our first defense against weeds. It suppresses most of them before they can establish, and it makes the ones that do break through easier to remove. This is the same bed preparation we use when planting our seasonal crops, which I covered in best seeds to plant in spring and summer.

For the stubborn ones, hand removal is the only safe option. It takes patience, but it works.

Purple Nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus)

Purple nutsedge is one of the most persistent weeds in the garden. It looks like a grass, with bright green leaves and a slightly triangular stem, but it is actually a sedge. That difference matters because sedges spread differently from grasses.

The plant grows from underground tubers, often called nutlets. Each tuber can produce a new plant, and the tubers are connected by a network of underground stems called rhizomes. Pulling the plant by hand usually snaps the stem above the tuber, leaving the tuber in the ground to grow again.

The key to removing purple nutsedge is getting the tuber out. That means digging around the plant with a fork or a small trowel, loosening the soil and pulling the whole root system out at once. If the tuber breaks off, the plant will return within a few weeks.

We remove purple nutsedge as soon as we see it. The longer it stays in the bed, the more tubers it produces, and the harder it becomes to control.

Purple Nutsedge pulled from the bed with its fibrous roots and tubers visible. Removing the tuber is the only way to stop it coming back.

Young Purple Nutsedge shoots emerging from the soil. The plants spread through underground tubers, which is why they are so difficult to control.

Goosegrass (Eleusine indica)

Goosegrass, also called crabgrass, is a low-growing grass that spreads out flat against the soil. Its leaves are bright green and slightly wider than most lawn grasses. The seed heads look like small, flattened spikes with a distinctive zipper-like appearance.

Goosegrass is a problem because it grows fast, spreads quickly and competes aggressively with vegetables for water and nutrients. It also produces thousands of seeds per plant, which can stay viable in the soil for years.

Pulling goosegrass by hand works, but you have to get the crown of the plant. That is the central point where all the stems meet, at or just below the soil surface. If you pull only the leaves, the crown will send up new shoots within days.

We use a small hand fork to loosen the soil around the crown, then pull the entire plant out in one motion. The plant comes up easily when the soil is moist, which is why we often weed after watering or after rain.

Goosegrass pulled from the bed. The flattened stems and shallow root system are typical of this weed.

A young Goosegrass plant growing flat against the soil. Removing the crown is the key to stopping it from regrowing.

Horseweed (Conyza species)

Horseweed, also called fleabane, starts as a small rosette of narrow, hairy green leaves close to the ground. In its early stage, it looks harmless. But once it starts to grow vertically, it sends up a tall stem that can reach over a metre high, and it produces thousands of tiny seeds that are carried by the wind.

The seeds are the reason horseweed spreads so quickly. A single plant can produce over 200,000 seeds, and each one is light enough to travel long distances on the breeze. If the plant is allowed to flower and set seed, the problem becomes much bigger than one weed.

The best time to remove horseweed is when it is still a rosette, before the stem grows and the flowers appear. At that stage, the plant is small and the taproot comes up easily.

Once the plant has grown tall, the stem becomes tough and the taproot is deeper. Removal is still possible, but it takes more effort. We pull horseweed by hand as soon as we see it, using a fork to loosen the soil around the taproot before pulling the whole plant out.

Horseweed pulled from the bed. The narrow, hairy leaves and taproot are typical of the rosette stage, which is the best time to remove it.

A young Horseweed plant growing upright. If left to flower, it will produce thousands of wind-carried seeds.

Hairy Beggarticks (Bidens pilosa)

Hairy beggarticks is a fast-growing weed with serrated green leaves and small yellow flowers. It is a common sight in disturbed soil, gardens and roadsides, and it produces a large number of seeds per plant.

The seeds are the main reason this weed spreads so easily. Each seed is a slender, barbed burr that clings to clothing, animal fur and anything else it touches. If you walk through an area with beggarticks in seed, you will carry those seeds with you to the next bed without even noticing.

Removal is straightforward. The plant pulls up easily by hand, especially when the soil is moist. The key is to remove it before it sets seed, so the burrs never form. Once the seeds are ripe, pulling the plant can spread them further.

We pull beggarticks as soon as we see it in the beds. If the plant is already flowering, we cut the flowering heads first and dispose of them in the bin, then pull the rest of the plant.

Hairy Beggarticks pulled from the bed. The serrated leaves are easy to recognise, and the plant pulls up easily when the soil is moist.

Hairy Beggarticks seeds on a gardening glove. The barbed burrs cling to clothing and fur, which is how the plant spreads so easily.

Mexican Clover (Richardia brasiliensis)

Mexican clover is a low-growing weed with oval green leaves and hairy stems. It spreads outward from a central point and forms a dense mat over the soil if left alone. The plant looks harmless at first, almost like a ground cover. But once it establishes, it competes aggressively with vegetables for water and nutrients.

The stems of Mexican clover are tough and lie close to the ground, making it difficult to pull by hand without breaking them. The best approach is to loosen the soil around the plant with a fork, then lift the whole plant out in one motion, keeping the root system intact.

Mexican clover can also grow through a mulch layer, as we have seen in our own beds. The stems push through gaps in the mulch and spread across the surface. When this happens, we remove the plant by hand, taking care not to disturb the mulch too much.

Mexican Clover uprooted from the bed. The oval leaves and hairy stems are the main identifying features.

Mexican Clover growing through the mulch layer. The plant pushes through gaps in the mulch and spreads across the surface.

Red Spiderling (Boerhavia diffusa)

Red spiderling is a low-growing weed with reddish stems, green oval leaves and a thick woody taproot. It spreads horizontally across the soil, forming a wide mat that can cover a large area if left alone.

The taproot is the reason this weed is difficult to remove. If the taproot is left in the ground, the plant will regrow from it within weeks. Pulling only the visible parts of the plant is not enough.

Removing red spiderling requires digging around the plant with a fork or trowel until the taproot is exposed, then lifting the whole plant out. The taproot is usually deep and woody, so it takes patience to get the full root out.

We remove red spiderling as soon as we spot it. The plant spreads quickly, and once the taproot is established, it becomes a bigger job to remove.

Red Spiderling pulled from the bed with its woody taproot visible. Removing the full taproot is essential to stop it regrowing.

Red Spiderling spreading across the soil. The plant grows horizontally and forms a dense mat if left alone.

What I Have Learned From Managing Weeds by Hand

Weeding by hand is not the fastest method, but it teaches you things that herbicide never will. Here are the main lessons from managing weeds in our garden:

1. Know the weed before you pull it.
   Some weeds regrow from roots, some from seeds, some from tubers. Knowing which is which tells you how much of the plant you need to remove.
2. Timing matters.
   Weeding after rain or after watering makes the job much easier. The soil is soft and the roots come up with less effort.
3. Get the root.
   Pulling only the leaves is a temporary fix. For weeds like nutsedge, goosegrass, horseweed and red spiderling, the root is the problem, and it has to come out.
4. Remove weeds before they seed.
   A single horseweed plant can produce over 200,000 seeds. One beggarticks plant can leave dozens of burrs on your clothes. Removing the plant before it flowers is the simplest way to stop the next generation.
5. Mulch is your first defense.
   A thick layer of grass mulch suppresses most weeds before they establish and makes the ones that do break through easier to remove.
6. Small regular sessions beat long exhausting ones.
   Walking through the garden every few days and pulling a few weeds is easier than facing a full bed of them after a month.

Gardening Lesson

Weeds are only a problem when you do not know them.

Once you learn to identify the weeds in your garden and understand how each one grows, removal becomes faster and more effective. A little patience and a hand fork will do more than any chemical ever could.

---

Evergreen Hideout Agricultural Services
Soshanguve, Pretoria, South Africa
Growing Knowledge. Growing Food.